Plus one admissions: Minister Sivankutty announces 97 additional batches, 53 in Malappuram

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty on Wednesday announced the setting up of 97 additional temporary batches in the higher secondary schools in the state. A total of 4,03,731 students have secured admissions to plus one this year, he said.

Speaking at the press conference here, the minister announced a 20 per cent increase in marginal seats in all the aided and government higher secondary schools in Kollam, Thrissur and Ernakulam.

“In a move to ensure higher secondary admissions for all the students who submitted applications, a total of 97 temporary batches were sanctioned in the districts from Palakkad to Kasaragod in the Malabar region. Of this, 57 batches are in government schools and 40 others in aided institutions,” Sivankutty said.

Earlier, 14 higher secondary batches (12 science & 2 humanities) were shifted to Malappuram from across various districts.

With the increase in marginal and additional temporary batches, there has been a hike of 37,655 and 28,755 seats in government and aided schools respectively. 

The minister further added that one more supplementary allotment will be conducted for those students who failed to secure admissions after changing school combinations on July 29.

Responding to the criticism over lack of sufficient plus one seats in Malabar, the minister said that education is being used for narrow political objectives and added that it was not just. He pointed out that 96 per cent of the unaided schools in Malappuram were allocated during the UDF (United Democratic Front) governments. In contrast, the LDF (Left Democratic Front) established government schools in Malabar. The Department of Public Education was handled by representatives of the Muslim League for over 15 years after 1990. The minister questioned their actions and contributions to the development of Malabar, particularly Malappuram.